On November 18, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported air raids against Iran-backed militias in Syria. According to the Observatory, five members from the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force (QF) and two Lebanese or Iraqi Shiite militiamen were among casualties.
Political analysts believe recent attacks were precise in sending a public message about Iranian involvement in Syria. In such circumstances, Iranian authorities consider U.S. political developments as a window to heighten their influence in the region, particularly in Syria. However, these bombardments show that they might have miscalculated.
Eight targets were hit, belonged to the Syrian army or the IRGC-QF, in areas stretching from the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights to the Damascus periphery. They included an Iranian headquarters at Damascus international airport, a “secret military site” that hosted Iranian military delegations and the 7th Division of the Syrian armed forces.
A former Syrian military commander told Reuters the attacks also targeted bases of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah in Syria.
For years, the IRGC-QF is behind proxy conflicts in the Middle East. The mullahs supported their radical allies with missiles, monetary aids, and basic needs.
Following the U.S. & U.K., Germany banned all #Hezbollah activity on its territory & designated the #Iran-backed group a terrorist organisation.
Hezbollah as Iran's infantry plays significant role in destabilizing the Middle East on the ayatollahs' favor.https://t.co/Mf6XTpmn0H— Iran News Update (@IranNewsUpdate1) April 30, 2020
“The world knows, and we are announcing to the world that Hezbollah’s power, expenses, food, water, weapons, and missiles are provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the chief of Lebanese Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah on June 24, 2016.
Furthermore, in December 2017, the then-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley highlighted the Iranian regime’s destructive role in the region. “It’s hard to find a conflict or terror group in the Middle East that does not have Iran’s fingerprints all over it,” she said.
Also, on Saturday, the Observatory reported more than ten airstrikes positions of Iran-backed militias on Deir Ezzor province, on the border with Iraq. “At least 14 Iran-backed militia fighters from Iraq and Afghanistan were killed in airstrikes in war-torn eastern Syria,” al-Arabiya.net cited the war monitor.
According to the rights group, eight Iraqis and six Afghan fighters were among casualties. The raids destroyed two bases and several military vehicles.
Since 2011, Iran plays a crucial role in suppressing the Syrian people’s anti-regime protests. In this respect, the IRGC-QF former chief Qassem Soleimani directly attended Damascus to ensure the Bashar al-Assad dictatorship. Soleimani recruited and dispatched Afghan migrates to fight on behalf of the IRGC-QF in Syria. He also received massive money from the Mostazafan Foundation to finance Afghan militants, known as Fatemiyoun Division.
As a result of Tehran’s bloody interference in Syria, over 700,000 people have died and at least 10 million more have been displaced. On July 20, Naser Al-Hariri, a prominent figure of the Syrian opposition, emphasized the Iranian regime’s complicit in Assad’s massacre against Syrian protesters.
“We are struggling against the same enemy. We must reaffirm our commitment against the Iranian regime and its policy of hatred. The regime has consumed the resources of the people and abandoned them in poverty. They don’t listen to the demands of the people. They employ terrorism to destroy the opposition,” he said at Free Iran 2020 global summit.
